Waiting for Walter
by Kesmai
Summary: Paige is Walters only lifeline when he spirals down the rabbit hole of his genius. Will the new case involving someone from Paige's past help the situation or send him spiralling so far into his genius that no one will be able to reach him? Walter will be very immature emotionally at the start of this - almost acting like a teenager at times; Paige will be annoyed with him a lot!
1. Chapter 1

I don't own Scorpion or anything to do with the show. I have no money so don't sue me! There will be plenty of Lemons and will be Waige but it may take a while to get there and there will be someone else in Paige's life first so if you don't like that then this may not be for you.

Updates will not be on a specific schedule it will be when I get the chance around work and family but it shouldn't be too log between each update.

 **Waiting for Walter**

 **Chapter 1**

With Ralph staying with his father for a few days Paige decided to treat herself to a pamper evening; she had plans to have a bubble bath, glass of wine and then take care of her little problem! It was all Walters fault she thought that her body felt so tense and on edge. If he hadn't been a genius she could have been dating either him or right now any man would do and she could have had mind blowing sex and she could relax. She knew it was starting to become a problem as Toby had this week started commenting on how she was snapping at people for no reason. So she had decided that tonight she was going to have to take things into her own hands so to speak; she had to relax or she couldn't do her job properly especially as by her calculations Walter was due one of is little moments soon.

 _The first time one had happened was after a tough case; Paige had spent the first two days getting caught up on paperwork and didn't really notice that Walter was slowly slipping down the rabbit hole but then again none of the team did. It started with him filling dry marker boards with what looked like incomprehensible equations so Paige had assumed it was something normal and as the rest of the team were all busy with their projects she just carried on with her day. She then took a few days off with the proviso they called her for any cases and she would come in so didn't notice that his boards were getting fuller and fuller but the food and coffee mugs were not being touched. By day five he had sunk onto a sofa in the garage and was silently mouthing maths equations as he had no more room to fill on the boards. After spending a few hours trying to bring him back to earth the rest of the team had called her and she came running._

 _She had walked in, taken one look at him and just sat next to him on the sofa and began gently just telling him about her day off._

" _I'm a freaking genius and I couldn't rouse him even when I slapped him Paige what the hell do you think telling him about your day will do?" grumbled Toby who seemed to be taking Walters fall as a personal affront to his skills. Paige hadn't answered she kept her focus on Walter only sparing Toby a dirty look mid-sentence. The team seemed unable to look away from the two of them on the sofa and all of them seemed on edge. Sly was continually adjusting things on his desk and applying antibacterial hand gel in a continuing loop, Happy stood a few feet away from the sofa fidgeting with a complex looking gadget but rarely looking at her hands her focus was purely on Walter. Toby was pacing in front of Cabe who had a stack of paperwork that he was pretending to read but he was hardly looking at the sheets of paper._

" _Wait, did you see that? She reached him just for a second there" Happy said hitting Toby in the stomach with her hand "looks like Paige beats you in the psychobable department doc!" she had noticed Walter's eyes had flicked sideways towards Paige just for a moment before he continued with his silent decent into his work._

 _Taking it as a sign she was indeed reaching him Page reached out and touched Walters hand gently stroking the back of it as her monologue of her chores continued. It took ten more minutes before Walters mouth stopped moving and he slumped sideways putting his head on her shoulder. Paige had frozen for a second before continuing on to tell him about the atrocious film her and Ralph had watched the previous evening. When the snores finally started she waved at Toby to come help her move Walter so he could lie down and sleep._

" _Looks like you are the Walter whisperer kid" Cabe said smiling "we were worried we were going to lose him there but you snapped him out of it"_

 _Second time it happened was a few months later; this time the team were quicker off the mark in calling her in. Again she sat down and talked to him while the team watched all on edge until his hand slowly reached out and grabbed hers holding on like it was a life line. After that it seemed to happen every few months; only Paige could reach him to pull him back from his thoughts. Paige noticed that the episodes would generally happen if something rattled Walter; if he thought she was in danger, if he was stressed bickering in the team or once when he had found out that she had gone out for a date. After that she worked harder to ensure that the team were happy and she refused any offers of dates but it had left her frustrated that Walter showed no signs of asking her out leaving her sex drive in limbo._

Paige added the lavender bubble bath into the stream of hot water, then wandered round the bathroom lighting candles and pouring a glass of wine and leaving the bottle within easy reach of the bath for refills. Once the bath was run she stripped off and sunk in to the warmth hoping her tense muscles would ease with the heat. She downed the first glass quickly whilst looking through her Facebook feed catching up on friend's gossip and feeling the stresses of the day leaving her.

She refilled her glass and took a large mouthful as she made the snap decision to look up an old friend from her home town; the two of them had hooked up a lot in the past but hadn't contacted each other since she had been at Scorpion. He was fun to spend time with, but wasn't they type to seriously date anyone being a bit of a local bad boy so he would be perfect to help her with her little problem as she knew he would be up for a bit of sexting to help her on her way. Hell she had some vacation time owed to her she may even see if he fancied meeting up for a weekend; it wouldn't be the first time they had done that and she knew she would have a great time with him.

She was disappointed when she saw he hadn't updated his page in nearly a year and didn't appear on line in her chat; but her mind had already taken her back in time to their last meeting and one hand slipped under the water whilst he other called up a picture of Josh. Her hand edged lower till she felt her finger slide between her folds. She circled her clitoris, teasing her folds and her entrance till she started to feel the stirrings of lust in her loins. Her finger then pressed on to her clitoris pushing down on the throbbing nerve bundle causing her to moan. Her finger eased off with the pressure and began to move in increasingly fast circles moving round then over her clitoris. Her mind was reliving the last time she had seen her friend; Josh's hands on her breasts as he thrust into her from behind. As she felt her body begin to tense for her release she dropped her phone to the floor and her free hand thrust between her legs adding two fingers into her opening giving her body something to contract around as she spilled over into release.

She slowly climbed out of the bath and picked up her phone and smiled; yes she would contact Josh tomorrow she didn't have to let the team or Walter know and she could get some well-deserved fun while keeping the team happy. She had a plan but for now she was going to head to bed and sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

I don't own Scorpion or anything to do with the show. I have no money so don't sue me! There will be plenty of Lemons and will be Waige but it may take a while to get there and there will be someone else in Paige's life first so if you don't like that then this may not be for you.

I just noticed a few grammatical mistakes in the last chapter – sorry I was in a rush to publish before I second guessed myself too much and decided that it wasn't good enough so I didn't proof read it as well as I should have. It's a pet peeve of mine to see mistakes in stories so I am gutted that I spotted so many in mine; so sorry again.

Updates will not be on a specific schedule it will be when I get the chance around work and family but it shouldn't be too long between each update.

Waiting for Walter

Chapter 2

Cabe walked in to the garage shouting "Got a case gather round!" Sly, Walter, Happy and Toby stopped what they were dong and headed over to Cabe. "Where's Paige? I'm hoping she can help on this one; it's in her home town so she may know of some of the main players and give us a few tips on how to deal with them"

"She came in this morning full of the joys of spring; she decided she was going to treat us all to coffee so has popped out again. Makes a change to her recent snappiness! If I didn't know better I would say she had spent some time at a spa or got laid last night but neither is likely! 197 can you send her a text saying Cabe is here so she can get something for him too while she is there" said Toby. Walter started texting as Cabe opened the folder.

Cabe looked at the team and said "What we have is a terrorist organisation that has infiltrated a Motor Cycle club." He handed a USB to Walter who started loading it onto his laptop pulling up pictures of the group. "Just over a year ago the club was pretty low level with the crime they were involved in; they were no angels but they avoided the big things like drugs and gun running and that kept them off most agencies radars or so low that the agencies ignored them as they had bigger fish to fry. Then things changed; we have Intel saying they are now running both drugs and guns and are planning something big. Trouble is we have no idea what or why things changed any agents we have sent in have been spotted. The first one got beaten half to death the second one was killed outright – bullet to the head execution style"

Sylvester went pale and started shaking his head "No, No, No I'm not going in there, I need my head intact!"

Cabe smiled tightly "Sly there is no way we would send you in they would make you in a heartbeat. The idea is we send one person in but the cover for the rest of us being close by is a science expo in a near by town so I need you lot to dust off some projects to present , Paige can go as your coordinator and I will act as protection for any gadgets and gizmos you take to the show and tell!"

"So who is going in?" Sly asked still nervous at being sent into the lions den.

Toby interjected "You need me the grand master at body language to go in, its obvious! Walter is too socially awkward it's got to be me"

Happy smacked him across the top of the head "Err Hello! Mechanic who owns a bike standing right next to you. Who is more suitable for this mission than me doc?"

Happy and Toby continued bickering while Cabe, Sly and Walter looked at the pictures of the club members. The door opened and Paige walked in bringing trays of coffees which she put down on the table before glancing at the laptop over their shoulders.

"What the fuck you guys! You do not get to investigate my friends. I thought we were past that!" She shouted over Happy's and Toby's bickering causing them to stop and everyone to look at her curiously. She pointed at the screen. "Josh! My friend. The friend I was trying to catch up with on Facebook last night. So which one of you is tracking my account and why?"

"You know Josh Mason? Well enough to contact him?" Cabe asked

Paige nodded "You haven't been hacking my account have you? This is to do with the Club. What the fuck has Josh done now?"

"Hmmm more swearing than normal, sudden happy mood gone at the thought of us looking at her internet history, admits to looking him up last night I think Paige knew this Joshy Boy quite well in the past and was thinking about contacting him again for some fun?" Toby asked smirking. Happy hit Toby again in the stomach "Doc!" she exclaimed nodding towards both Walters and Paige's stricken faces.

"Back to the case" Paige said visibly pulling herself together "What has Josh done now? The guy is always in trouble but it's not normally bad enough to get someone like us involved"

Cabe looked at her "We think his group has been taken over by a terrorist cell or cartel. Our mission is to get in and put a bug on their pc and phones so that the Intel gathered can be passed on to Homeland and we can prevent whatever they are planning. It should be an in and out job but the last two agents that were sent in got spotted"

"Yeh, security was always tight round the club, you couldn't just rock up there and get in you had to be vouched for – well unless there was a party but then most areas got locked down so there wouldn't be full access"

"Sounds like you have been there a few times? Could you get in? We were going to send Happy in but maybe it's better to send you"

"No!" Shouted Walter. The team turned to him "It's too dangerous, she will get hurt, and we will find a way for me to go" he finished the sentence rather meekly as he realised just how loudly he had shouted the word no.

Paige shook her head "Sorry Walter there is no way any of you will get in, I'm your only hope on this one. " She turned to Cabe "so what's the plan on this one?"

Cabe looked at her levelly " You sure you are going to be ok doing this? Tricking your friend? The cover story is that the genius squad are presenting projects at a local science expo so if you act as their admin you would get time off in the evening to visit your friends. The Expo is on Saturday and Sunday so you can give Josh a few days notice."

"Sly can you patch my phone through to the laptop so you can listen in on this conversation but not be heard just in case someone other than Josh is listening"

Sly nodded and started typing; Walter sighed and moved him out of the way and started typing faster than Sly had then quickly nodded. Paige started to walk away from the team and start dialling so that their inevitable bickering wouldn't be heard as she talked to Josh when Cabe shouted stop. She looked at him questioningly and he said "They may have bugs on the members phones so be careful, but use your judgement if you think you can trust him and get info from him do it" Paige nodded and started dialling again.

"Hello" came a distracted sounding voice through Paige's phone. "Hey Josh its me Paige" Paige said. "Hey Darlin', how's that kid of yours I've missed you lots" he drawled back. The combination of his voice, her memories of what she had done last night while thinking of him caused Paige to giggle down he phone, unaware the team were all staring at her back like she had grown a second head.

"Darlin'?" mouthed Happy at Toby

"That and the giggle I would say Paige was definitely more than friends with Josh" Confirmed Toby

"Ralph is doing great thanks, I have missed you too but life has been so busy I just haven't had time to get back home but I am going to be in town on the weekend; any chance of meeting up?"

She heard Josh sigh before saying "I really wish I could but its not a good time right now, things are a little…" he paused before finishing in a almost whisper "different here"

Paige took a second before saying "Remember Emily Maitley? I was speaking to her recently she had so much information on all the old gang she said you were still single but she said you seemed busy. She also told me all about her new job working in a biotec lab dealing with insects and bugs! You heard from her recently?"

Josh paused then said "Yes I remember Emily, you are right she would know all the gossip but I hadn't heard about the bugs and critters!"

Paige smiled while the rest of the team looked at each other wondering what on earth she was talking about till Cabe whispered "Code?"

"Josh please say you can squeeze in some time with me; there is no way I can be that close without seeing you! How about I promise to do exactly what I did on that night of Tara Winters Halloween party; you know how much you enjoyed that!" Paige said in her most persuasive voice

Toby looked at Happy then said to Cabe "Heck if I wasn't trying to get a certain mechanic into my life I would take her up on that offer and I don't even know what the hell she did after that party!" Cabe nodded at Toby in a moment of masculine understanding. Walter sat there mouth open staring at Paige; he had no idea what he was feeling but given the chance he felt like he wanted to reach down the phone and choke Josh for just listening to Paige talk – was it jealousy he was feeling? All he knew was that it was usually Paige who helped him sort out feelings but he was certain he couldn't ask her about this one!

"Tara's party; wow now that would be absolutely amazing but I am not sure you could manage it again baby" Josh replied

Paige laughed and said "Josh you have no idea, I could do it again but even better these days"

The team heard Josh gulp before saying "There is a party Friday night I can get you in, I cant pick you up as I have a meeting but I will put your name on the gate so you can just walk in. I will message you with the details later. I got to go now; it was great to hear your voice though darlin'" then he hung up.

Paige turned to face the team Cabe said "Care to fill us in on the coded parts of the conversation?" Paige smiled " Emily Maitley was a girl in the school that we didn't get on with, no way would she be chatting to me but she was known for eavesdropping on conversations so I was asking him if anyone was listening close by or was there a bug on the line. Josh is pretty quick so worked it out and confirmed he had someone close listening by saying about the gossip but no to the bugs by not confirming the job info"

Walter stared intensely at Paige "What exactly have you agreed to do with him Paige? I don't want you um doing um..." he trailed off

"What 197 is trying to ask is have you just agreed to do some weird sex thing in order to complete the mission because I don't think any of us expects you to do that" Toby helped Walter out finishing off what he was trying desperately to ask

Paige smiled "After Tara's party was the night he says I saved him; he had been accused of something and I gave him an alibi. So I was offering him the chance to be saved from the situation he is in"

Cabe looked at Paige "You may not be an agent or a genius but there are times like now when I realise we don't give you enough credit. You not only hold this lot together but you have other very useful skills"

Paige looked at the team all smiling at her except Walter who seemed deep in thought; she reached out her hand and rested it on his shoulder gently he snapped out of his day dream and turned to her questioningly "What do I need to do to get into their phones and computers? I doubt I will be able to touch them but is there some gadget you can use that I can carry?" Paige asked him. Walter turned to the rest of the team looking serious "We have 5 days to work this out; Paige needs to be in and out fast we are not losing her to the bad guys." With that the team started brain storming leaving Cabe and Paige to drink their coffee in peace till they were needed again.


	3. Chapter 3

_I don't own Scorpion or anything to do with the show. I have no money so don't sue me! There will be plenty of Lemons and will be Waige but it may take a while to get there and there will be someone else in Paige's life first so if you don't like that then this may not be for you._

 _OK it looks like a few people are reading this which makes me happy; the review made me even happier thank you for that. I'm supposed to be cleaning the house for visitors but I decided this was more important – Paige and Walter are shouting at me in my head to hurry up and write the next bit of the story._

 _Updates will not be on a specific schedule it will be when I get the chance around work and family but it shouldn't be too long between each update; I'm not sure how many chapters there will be so wait for more than a one shot and less than a hundred!_

 **Waiting for Walter**

 **Chapter 3**

The week leading up to the trip home was a bit boring for Paige; there wasn't much she could do to help with the prep work once she had booked accommodation so she filled her days with completing old paperwork that she had put off for as long as possible, invoicing and helping Cabe with any information she had on members of the club. She felt guilty telling the agent about people she considered if not friends at least acquaintances but the more the team knew the better they could plan and keep her safe whilst on the mission. Her nerves were also affecting her but she tried to reason them away thinking she would be in the club house for a very short period of time and the devices she was taking should allow them access without her doing too much.

The team had also created an app which she had sent to Josh – it was seemingly just a word game similar to scrabble but if one of the in game adverts was pressed then a player could hit the letters available without them showing on their screen but they would show on the other persons. The idea was that she could challenge Josh and he could message her without people realising and without the need for complicated codes. She was using it to contact Josh as often and she could; so far he had told her that there were about 10 new members that she didn't know, they were dangerous, had blackmail on most of the other members and he thought a few members families may be being held hostage somewhere to ensure compliance with the new direction the club was taking. Cabe had told her to start sending texts too ones that the terrorists would probably see as it would help with her whole cover story of wanting to catch up with Josh.

At the end of the day Paige was sitting on the sofa messaging Josh; the messages were bordering on explicit, Josh was just so easy to flirt with and their history together made it easy for both of them to forget what this was really about. She was so engrossed she didn't realise Walter had walked behind her and stopped to read her pad over her shoulder. He realised he shouldn't be doing it and the rational part of his brain knew that the messages were to help the team but a part of him felt like he had been stabbed. It physically hurt and for a moment he couldn't breathe he forced himself to suck air into his lungs as he watched Paige reply to Josh's comment about heading out for a ride with a flirty comment saying she was looking forward to finally doing some riding herself this weekend.

Walter staggered to the back of the garage hiding in the shadows while he tried to compose himself; she was in danger, she needed to be protected, she was flirting with someone she obviously had history with and cared about, he was losing her without ever winning her. The thoughts circled round and round but he was unable to balance his emotions on his own and unable to work out how to stop it. He stood there for a long time when he finally managed to move he realised that everyone had left the garage; he decided a drink was what he needed and grabbed his coat and headed out.

Walter found a bar that wasn't too much of a dive , he grabbed a beer and headed to a table. After his sixth beer he noticed the place was getting fuller; eventually only his table had spaces and a group of two women and an older man came and asked if they could join him. He was jolted out of his misery by the human contact and his social anxiety came to the forefront again and he stood saying he was leaving so they could have the table. One of the women in the group in the group stopped him with a hand to his arm "you could stay, we need a fourth member for the competition, are you any good at general knowledge?" she said. Walter looked round and realised there were posters up advertising a pub quiz that he had failed to notice on his way in. "I'm great at general knowledge well as long as it doesn't involve pop music or films then I can help; comes with having a 197 IQ" he said without really thinking. The woman smiled "you have to stay then you can help us win instead of coming last as usual" she said with a laugh. He looked at her comparing her in his mind to Paige; she didn't match up but he reminded himself Paige wanted Josh if the messages were anything to go by; she was lost to him so maybe this woman would be an adequate replacement. His heart screamed no but Walter over rode it and sat down.

The evening was a success as far as the quiz went; as promised he answered every question except the music and film ones which gave them enough points to put them in joint first; the tie breaker question was ridiculously easy for him and he didn't really understand why there were people who didn't know how many miles it was to the moon at its closest*. Everything else seemed to be going wrong though; every time Marcy touched him he froze. Rather than soothing him and helping his mind calm like Paige's touch his brain would scream and the world started to fade out. He had eventually timed a bathroom break with Johns trip to the bar so that he could switch seats. It was painfully obvious he had done it and the conversation was even more stilted than was usual for him. As soon as the winner was announced he said his goodbyes and left making his way back to the garage. He slumped onto the sofa which is where the team found him the next day.

Paige walked into the garage whilst on the phone to Drew; they were talking about how much fun Ralph was having and how Drew was happy to keep him for a bit longer than planned, it was the school holidays and so Ralph could stay till the end of the case without school becoming an issue. She glanced up and around when she realised that the garage was surprisingly quiet, Seeing Happy, Sly and Toby standing near the sofa she realised Walter had to be having one of his moments and got off the phone as quickly as she could.

Paige was sat next to him, he knew that in some part of his brain. He knew when it was her who had walked in the door; the part of his brain that was not working on a complicated mix of mathematical theories recognised her foot steps differentiated them from Happy and Toby who had been first in, then Sly's. He knew that if he could just reach out then the theories would stop swirling and would make sense and then he could interact with the world again. He knew though that as soon as that happened he would be confronted by the case, with her need for physical contact, no not just physical contact sexual contact and he just wasn't sure he could do that so he stayed inside his head and the theories swirled faster and faster interspersing with the words he had read on Paige's pad the day before.

"She's not reaching him" Happy said unhappily "what the hell triggered him this time?"

"Shhhh" said Toby " I'm trying to lip read, if we can work out what he is thinking of then maybe Paige can use it to help get him back with us." He remained quiet for a moment then said "What the..." paused looked confused then said "He's repeating the words "Riding again" then going off into what I think is three different mathematical theories tenuously linked to String theory then saying "riding again". Its not making much sense; when is he going riding or why would he associate riding anything with String Theory?"

Paige glanced up at Toby and blushed before saying "Oh shit" she got up grabbed her pad and Toby and dragged him off away from the others. She quickly pulled up her messages and handed the pad to Toby saying "he must have read this. How do I fix this Toby?" Toby read the messages quickly glanced up at Paige then across to Walter who was still on the sofa. "Wow Paige you really are taking this case seriously" he said sarcastically " I'm not sure how to fix this one. I'm guessing Walter feels his only thing tethering him to here has just sliced the lines and let him drift while she lines up a booty call when she should be working the case!" Paige slapped Toby across the face in fury. "What the fuck" she shouted "You know Cabe told me to keep messaging Josh so that if anyone takes his phone it will seem like a legitimate visit! But even if he hadn't its no-ones business but mine. Walter has had chance after chance to make a move; you told me to let him come to me and that if I tried anything it would freak him out. Well just how long am I supposed to be left in limbo waiting for Walter to make up his mind what he wants? I have a life, I have wants and needs I cant wait forever" she finished in a hiss having realised half way through her rant that there was a possibility that Walter would hear her. Toby looked at the ground "I'm sorry Paige I just cant see 197 like this I know what it will do to Scorpion, to Happy to Sly and even to me. Just do what you can to fix it. I agree its not right for you to have to wait indefinitely for him but can you at least wait till this case is over and I can talk to him and try to find out why he seems incapable of taking any steps towards you two being a couple." Paige glared at Toby then stalked back to Walter sat next to him and resumed chatting gently to the unresponsive man she adored.

Two hours later her throat was feeling raw and she was running out of innocuous things to say. Her head dropped back against the sofa in defeat, she took a deep breath then stretched her arms above her head attempting to get the kinks out of her back. Without thinking she dropped her arms to the back of the sofa and ran one hand through Walters hair, tangling her fingers into the strands that lay on his neck. Lost in thoughts of what to try talking to him about next she almost missed the sound that came from Walter. She turned her head towards him and lightly ran her nails along his scalp trailing them down to his neck again and heard him repeat the sound; a cross between a moan and a low growl. The others had gone back to their projects and were attempting to be busy but Toby had noticed Paige's earlier slump and had watched them closely; he heard the moan and his eyebrows shot up to almost reach the brim of his hat, 197 just reacted to physical contact in a good way, maybe their chat after the case wasn't going to be as tough as he thought!

Walter took a deep breath and came to his eyes flicked round the room taking in the fact he was still in the garage on the sofa, the angle of the sunshine through the windows told him how long he had been there, the sounds of Happy hitting metal told him the team were worried about him again. Then came the realisation that Paige's hand was on the back of his head, her nails were gently caressing his scalp. He turned his head and saw she was sitting staring at him with a look that seemed a mixture of happiness and shock he realised that his stomach felt strange and a certain part of his anatomy was beginning to rise to the occasion. A look of shock and horror crept on to his face and he threw himself off the sofa away from her hand stumbling as he went he ran for the stairs then up them away from the team. Paige looked at Toby; her face now one of shock. "No Toby I think he made his decision and made it quite clearly, I guess I'm not waiting any more."

Upstairs Walter sat on his bed ashamed of his actions. He didn't realise he was acting like a teenager getting an erection around a girl for the first time, that the embarrassment he was feeling was not necessary, all he could think about was the horror that he thought Paige must be feeling that her simple touch that had meant to help him had caused this. He looked down at his crotch wishing the erection away but every time he thought of her hand on his scalp, her nails gently caressing his neck it swelled again. He groaned; how was he supposed to face her she was going to think he was some kind of pervert unable to keep his urges in check. He sat there in misery; wondering if she would understand he left to save her the embarrassment of acknowledging his failure to keep control. If she had continued to stroke him he knew it wouldn't have taken long for him to fall over the precipice and make a mess in his pants. That her touch could un-man him so easily terrified him. There was no way he could try to be with her, he could never fulfil her needs if he came just with a few simple touches.

Downstairs Paige picked up her phone and dialled Josh and she stalked out of the garage. She knew that even if her touch was so abhorrent to Walter, Josh still appreciated her skills. She would get him out and safe then she would see if she could persuade him into sticking around in her life Josh was easy to like and easy to be around much more so than Walter.

Josh answered on the first ring "Hey Darlin' wasn't expecting to hear from you till later" she could hear the smile in his voice as he spoke.

"Its been a tough morning" she replied "and I just needed to hear a friendly voice to make me feel good"

He chuckled softly "Three more days and I can really make you feel good" he teased thinking she was role playing for the other members who were within earshot of his side of the conversation.

"Josh, when I get there I expect you to come through on that" she said seriously.

He heard the tone of her voice and hesitated before replying "What ever you want you know that."

She sighed glanced over her shoulder to make sure the team were not near her and said "If it wasn't for the fact that he gave me Ralph right now I am sorry that I let Drew come between us and if it is ok with you I wouldn't mind seeing what we can do about that"

Josh sucked in a breath, he wasn't sure what had happened to her this morning but he was pretty sure this was a real conversation "Darlin' you know its complicated but we shall see what we can sort out" he replied not willing to lose the chance to let one of the best things that had happened to him go for the second time.

She smiled "I have to go back to work" and hung up leaving him staring at his phone in bewilderment as to how he was so lucky that she was not only willing to try to rescue him again but also seemed willing to try and fix the things that had broken back when they were still teenagers.

Walter finally got his control back and headed down the stairs. He would deal with the case, keep Paige out of harms way then talk to her about his fears of failing her when it came to anything physical, he wrapped the logic of his plan around him like a protective cloak forgetting that it had a fatal flaw – he hadn't told anyone else what he was planning.

* For anyone curious, just to save you googling...What is the closest distance the moon comes to the earth in miles? 225623 miles


	4. Chapter 4

_I don't own Scorpion or anything to do with the show. I have no money so don't sue me! There will be Lemons and will be Waige but it may take a while to get there and there will be someone else in Paige's life first so if you don't like that then this may not be for you._

 _Updates will not be on a specific schedule it will be when I get the chance around work and family but it shouldn't be too long between each update. Sorry for the wait for this chapter; between work and 3 kids time to write is sort!_

 _Thanks for the reviews and follows_

 **Waiting for Walter**

 **Chapter 4**

As everyone loaded the truck Walter sought out Paige. Even though he didn't plan on talking about his feelings yet he needed to check she was ok before they left; it was worrying him that she was going in to this alone. He refused to classify her ex as someone to trust in his mind he could only trust his team; till this mission was over Paige was in his mind in danger and that made him feel on edge. He found her at her desk downloading the teams schedule onto a tablet.

"Paige?" he said looking round to make sure the team were not in ear shot.

Paige sighed; he is going to lecture me she thought, I don't need a Walter lecture! He avoids me like the plague and now wants to lecture me on how to do my job! "Just because I'm not a genius doesn't mean I'm going to mess up this mission Walter" she said without looking up

"No I..." he trailed off unsure how to put is thoughts into words without risking annoying her worse than she already seemed to be. Is brain failed him he had no idea wat to say. Instead he chickened out and lamely finished "I came to ask if I could put your bag in the van; we are almost ready to go"

She looked up a faint blush colouring her cheeks at the thought that she had misinterpreted the situation so badly "Thank you Walter. Its right there but Happy said she had something for me to add to it so I'm not sure if it can go on yet."

At that moment Happy wandered over holding two pieces of jewellery in her hands. "Paige you need to work these into your outfit somehow – sorry you are only getting them now but it took a while to sort them out."

Paige looked at the pieces and tiled her head to the side confused. She held a delicate looking lace choker with a metal butterfly centre piece and a matching butterfly hair clip. Both butterflies looked almost life life as if they were about to take flight at any moment.

"Monitoring devices" Walter answered her unasked question. "One is a camera one is a microphone so we can keep an eye on what's happening; with those and the ear piece we should be able to talk you through anything you come across"

"I tried to make them look like jewellery so you could wear them in public – fancy stuff isn't my usual area of expertise but I think they came out ok" Happy said un her usual gruff manner

"Happy they are lovely; you wouldn't know they are anything but a beautiful hair clip and a necklace. I love the butterfly theme." She held the choker out to Happy and smiled as she said "Help me put it on please?"

Before Happy could react Walter grabbed the piece and stepped behind Paige. Paige lifted her hair and waited as Walter gently placed the necklace in place, she shivered slightly as his fingers accidentally brushed her neck. Walter planned to take his time enjoying the chance to be close to her, to allow is fingers to brush her neck and to feel surrounded by her fragrance. Then he realised his body had started to react to her closeness, when she shivered it was too much for him and he turned on his heel and ran for the stairs.

Paige practically growled in frustration "If he finds it that distasteful to touch me why the fuck did he take the necklace?" She looked at Happy in a mixture of confusion and frustration

"I have no idea what goes on in his head; that's Toby's area of expertise" Happy turned and walked away leaving Paige.

Paige sat back down at her desk; as the moments passed all the frustration of the past few months replayed in her head. The more she thought about it the more annoyed she got till her whole body practically vibrated with hr anger. At that moment her phone registered an incoming message she reached out and opened it up reading "Can't wait to see you again, not long now" She smiled as she felt her anger dissipate being replaced with the easy relaxed feeling she got when she thought about Josh. She slid the hair clip into her hair gathered her stuff and thought –time for me to be the knight in shining armour for a change, I can ride in rescue Josh, get the intel and still have fun doing it!

The drive was not a pleasant one; the journey was a tough one because of traffic but things were not helped with Walter sitting next to her. He spent the whole time talking to everyone but her yet his hand kept bumping hers as if he subconsciously wanted to hold her hand. Every time it happened she was reminded of is strange behavior recently and she got annoyed. By the time they go to they got to the house she had rented for the weekend she was grouchy, confused and just wanted a shower to wash away her tension. The house was a 3 bedroom but had a couch that pulled out to a bed; it still left them a few beds short. The guys were arguing who was going to share when she got back from checking out the rooms.

"Guys one of the bedrooms has twin beds so it's not an issue" she said in a break in the conversation

Toby turned to her "We don't need Sly's human calculator skills to work out that gives us 5 beds and there are still 6 of us. Even your math skills are usually better than that Paige"

"You're forgetting; I'm probably not going to end up sleeping here. If you want this to look realistic then I need to stay over with Josh. I will come back and forth here during the day but as the most access to the club will be during parties those run through the night. Day time I can just nap anywhere so we will be fine."

Walter looked crestfallen he hadn't thought the plan through which was unusual for him "No" he blurted out loudly "No its too dangerous; you are not staying there. No way. We will find another way to complete the mission. Maybe I can hack their systems to get the info or maybe…."

"Walter stop!" Paige cut through his rambling "You tried hacking them and got nowhere. Someone needs to get in there and the only one who can do it is me. So go get ready to present your paper you are first up on the schedule; Cabe will take you just as planned. Toby you are next but you have 4 hours before yours. Sly and Happy yours are not till tomorrow. You all have a question and answer session on Sunday too – that's the only time were we will have an issue covering the monitoring but hopefully as it's during the day there will be nothing to monitor. You all know the plan we are not changing it now so go get your stuff ready!"

With that she dropped into a chair and pulled out her phone. "I'm in town finally" she sent to Josh n whatsapp. His reply was almost instantaneous.

"Perfect timing! I'm about to go drop off a package off over near where you said you were staying. I can call in on you now to drop off something to help you get in tonight; you will still need to get transport for tonight as I can't pick you up – sorry x."

She looked up at the others with a smile on her face. "Josh is calling by; he needs to drop something off"

"Showtime!" announced Toby dramatically "We better get things in from the van quickly then. "Guys grab some stuff and get it upstairs to the master bedroom before someone sees it!"

The team scattered each grabbing stuff to set up the monitoring station in the Master bedroom. They worked well together linking the computers and equipment. Paige smiled, when her geniuses were working well together it made her happy. She quickly moved to a bathroom to reapply makeup and straighten up her clothes. She didn't have time for a shower or to change as she could hear the growling sound of a motorbike engine travelling down the isolated road to the house.

She heard Sly's voice shouting "The cameras we put out are picking up 2 bikes heading this way guys"

Cabe flipped through photos in a file and quickly identified Josh and a member of the group who had taken over the club "I guess they are not trusting him out on his own; things may be more difficult than we thought" he said thoughtfully. "Paige be careful out there; I can cover you from the window but I don't want our cover blown"

As the two bikes parked up; Paige let herself out the front door and walked towards the steps leading down from the porch. Josh jumped off his bike and practically ran to her; his greeting was enthusiastic to say the least as he picked her up and swung her round in a circle both of them laughing. He lowered her to the ground sliding her body against his and holding her tight. With his eyes on hers he lowered his lips to hers kissing her gently at first but extending the kiss as she responded. He moved is lips to her neck giving the appearance to all watching that he couldn't keep his hands off her but as he nuzzled her ear he whispered "They have member's families as hostages; I can't leave without them; we have to do what they say till they are released. Find them!" He pulled back smiling as if he hadn't dropped that bombshell.

Upstairs the team heard his warning. "Shit that complicates things" Cabe ground out. "Walter can you hack the local rental companies, they have to have the people somewhere maybe its somewhere they got recently "

"Hey darlin' it's good to see you. The party tonight looks to be bigger than usual but if you show them this you should be able to walk right in without waiting." As Josh spoke he took off a leather bracelet with the club insignia on it from his wrist.

"What's he giving her?" Happy asked from across the room unable to see the monitors or the window.

"Some sort of club symbol I think" Sly replied eyes fixed to the monitor.

"It's more than that; look at her body language" Toby interjected

Paige looked down at his hand "That's a bit more than that isn't it?" she replied

"Um" his smile faltered slightly "It will keep you protected, no one will mess with you if you are wearing it. You know what it is Paige. Please just take it."

"Has anyone worn it since….." she stopped half way through her sentence still not taking the offered gift from him

"No just you" he replied quickly.

Paige closed the last inches between their hands and took it from him "Thank you" she said softly

"I got to go" he said glancing over his shoulder at the other rider.

"See you later" Paige replied still looking down at the insignia n her hands.

His fingers touched her chin and tilted her face back up before claiming her mouth with his. His lips pressed firmly against hers and she felt is tongue touch the seam of her lips before she opened hers to allow him access. Their tongues danced together for a few seconds before they broke apart breathlessly. He stepped back before turning and walking away. Paige stood watching until he drove off before turning and walking back to the house looking thoughtfully at the item in her hands.

Walter's fingers were flying over a laptop keyboard; Cabe I'm finding nothing on any local rentals but it's a bit vague maybe if we had more info I could narrow down the search. Did I miss anything?"

"No 197 there was definitely nothing for you to see" Toby answered quickly sending looks at the rest of the team.

"Ok then I will get ready with Cabe. You guys see if you can come up with a plan to find the hostages while I am gone. Cabe you ready?" Walter walked over to Cabe who was still staring out the window watching the two bikes disappear into the distance.

"Yeh kid, I'm ready" Cabe replied.

The team came downstairs to find Paige wrapped in her own thoughts sitting on the hair in the living room. Toby sat opposite her as Walter and Cabe walked out the door.

"So are you going to tell us what's so special about that?" Toby asked reaching for the insignia Josh had given her. Paige leaned back out of Toby's reach. "Oh that's telling!" Said Toby excitedly.

"It's…it's…..it's the club insignia" She stumbled over the words without meeting Toby's gaze

"It's more than that Paige"

"Ok each member wears it. It only gets given to significant others. Not hangers on, not one timers. In their terms it means you are claimed; no one else can touch you. "

"Your conversation kind of made it sound like you wore this before"

Paige opened her mouth to answer but no words came out she nodded before looking back down at it.

"There is a story here Paige, The question is will it mess with the mission? Are you going to be able to go through with this?"

"I can do it" She said firmly and fastened the bracelet onto her wrist. "Toby I need to think for a while though. I will tell you everything later but just now I need to think"


End file.
